HR Comment: How Moral Equivalence Erodes Accurate Reporting

When Judge Richard Goldstone published his famous op-ed reconsidering the Goldstone Report, he – perhaps unintentionally – revealed one of the predominant biases of the Goldstone Committee that produced the report. The committee, it appears, was operating under a deep-set assumption of moral equivalence between Israel and Hamas.

The same bias of moral equivalence can be seen in the coverage of the recent violence between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

While virtually all mainstream news outlets covered the story as an action-reaction, started by Hamas’s attack on an Israeli school bus and carried on by Israel’s retaliatory strikes on targets in Gaza, the coverage gives the misleading impression that Israel and Hamas are morally equal.

What’s left out of the coverage is the element of intentionality. More specifically, it glosses over the reality that Hamas’s intention was to kill Israeli school children and Israel’s intention, in firing back, was to defend its citizens.

The distinction between the two sides is most clearly evident when their intentions are examined. The original, flawed Goldstone Report, however, was so mired by the biases of its authors that no distinctions were made.

Even Goldstone now admits that there was no evidence pointing to any Israeli intention to target Palestinian civilians during the Gaza war. In the absence of evidence pointing clearly in either direction, his “reasonable conclusion” was to assume Israeli guilt:

That the crimes allegedly committed by Hamas were intentional goes without saying — its rockets were purposefully and indiscriminately aimed at civilian targets.

The allegations of intentionality by Israel were based on the deaths of and injuries to civilians in situations where our fact-finding mission had no evidence on which to draw any other reasonable conclusion.

In other words, the committee decided that since Palestinian civilians suffered, Israel targeted them on purpose unless it proved otherwise – just as Hamas intentionally targeted Israeli civilians.

Amazingly, the committee could not recognize that Israel’s sole intention for going to war in Gaza was to stop Hamas rocket fire targeting Israeli civilians. Had there been no rocket fire, there would have been no war.

But in a world of moral equivalence between aggressor and victim, intentions are irrelevant. Both sides fired and both sides caused civilian casualties. Therefore, both sides are morally equal.

This bias of moral equivalence – the failure to distinguish between Hamas’s intentional aggression against Israeli civilians, which “goes without saying” and Israel’s intention to protect its citizens against this aggression, for which there is apparently “no evidence” – is often reinforced in media coverage of the region.

As the violence escalated over the weekend, article after article focused on Israel’s retaliation to the trigger event – Hamas’s intentional attack on an Israeli school bus with an advanced anti-tank rocket.

This Associated Press article was typical of the coverage of the violence in Gaza:

Israel pounded Hamas targets in Gaza with air strikes and tank shells Saturday, killing four militants, Palestinian officials said, as Palestinian missiles reached deeper into Israel in the most intense round of fighting since the Gaza war.

In all, 18 Gazans have been killed and more than 65 wounded since Israel unleashed the strikes following a Hamas attack on an Israeli school bus Thursday. An anti-tank rocket struck the bus, seriously wounding a 16-year-old boy and injuring the driver.

It might seem reasonable to report, first and foremost, on casualties, especially when recounting the latest events. But a dry retelling of the actions without noting the intentionality behind them fails to convey the spirit of what happened.

Instead of presenting the events as Hamas intentionally attacking children on a school bus and Israel trying to prevent such attacks by pursuing those responsible, we get a play-by-play of the violence that has the strange ring of tit-for-tat attacks in a moral vacuum.

Time magazine even used the term tit-for-tat in its “teaser” – the one-line summary of the article – for its coverage of the Gaza flare-up.

The term suggests that all of the violence is essentially equal, as though Hamas’s intentions were irrelevant. In the AP article, it is Israel that “unleashed” strikes, as though the bus attack wasn’t really a trigger after all.

It is no wonder that people see the issue as a “cycle of violence.” When the media fails to make a distinction between Hamas’s aggression and Israel’s defense, it leaves out the essential element of the story that allows people to make sense of what’s happening.

But accurate reporting would show things as they truly are – with one side shooting precision missiles at school kids and firing rockets from within its own civilian population (see video below). Then people may understand there is no more equivalence between Israel and Hamas. Maybe even Goldstone is starting to see it.

Dear PAthena & Saad, I have read & do read Torah, Tennach ( the root of the commentaries ie. Talmud etc.) & The New Covenant with Israel (Jer.31.31) and parts of the Mischna & Koran, but when I read in the Koran where moslems are instructed to kill the people of The Book (Bible) – both Jews & Christians, then I dont need to bother much more with a book like that! Mohammed took from both Torah, Tennach and the words of Jesus and said he was the last Prophet, although Jesus is in the Koran, Jeesus said; I am the way, the truth, & the life, & that no one comes to God except throu Him, and that we should forgive our enemies! Mohammed said moslems should Kill! – I ask then if moslems accept Jesus in the Koran then – Why Dont They Do What He Says!?! Tom.

Actions do speak louder than words!
We have plenty of muslims who carry out heinous attacks on Christians and Jews!
They also attack any member of the public who happens to be in the wrong place at the time when bombs are detonated etc.
The actions I mention above are going on as we speak around the world, see Islam: The Religion of Peace website for example!
Where are there any Christians and Jews committing this acts today?
Obviously, they do try to defend themselves such as the Israelis who try to take out the missile sites which the Gazans fire from or tunnels which store weaponry etc. and sometimes people get hurt in the process!
No, the so-called hatred which is going on as I state above is taught to children almost from kindergarten, they grow up with hatred in their hearts for all but muslims! It`s so sad!

I own copies of both the Mishna, Talmud, and the Koran, thought I have not studied them carefully. There is a new book by Jacob Howland, Plato and the Talmud. Two other books of interest: (1) A.J. Jacobs, The Year of Living Biblically, a humorous account of how the author tried to live according to the Bible for a year; (2) Geza Vermes, Jesus the Jew (an other works by Vermes (he is an authority on the Dead Sea Scrolls).

I would wager 999 out of 100 Jews has never seen The Talmud. The Koran?

Besides Saad you’re just obfuscating. Nabil Shaath just restated today, not 1,000 years ago that the Palestinians want a State, and they also want Israel. Again the Arab side refuses to negotiate and only demands everything.http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=217641

Saad, why do you deflect my questions? The religious texts that I quoted and you push away are the very same that cause the violence and hatred today from Palestinians (and Muslims in general). I wanted your opinions about it because you have chosen to put yourself in this forum and therefore you are the obvious person to ask. I think that a lot of Jews would want to know why these things are taught to Muslim children. And you are right, it is because of those indictments in the Koran that cause the actions you say you prefer to dwell on. Exactly so. You ask me about a Palestinian woman’s name. I don’t know why you want her name – and I would not break any confidances to give that to you, so don’t ask again.

You ‘respond’ with the historical record of how Muslims offered Jews shelter during the crusades. I am sure there were some who did this. There are always people who show their humanity to others in spite of the fears and threats around them. There were a very few Muslims who helped Jews during the Nazi Holocaust. As for historical records speaking more than personal anecdotes, that, I am afraid is not always the case. History can be manipulated and distorted. And sometimes personal stories have a deeper meaning.

Then why are you not discussing the Talmud also? You seem to focus on one thing but fail to look at the actions (and inactions) by each side. Instead you focus on one anecdote without any collaboration and forget to look at any recent actions. Who was it that said don’t worry about what they say but worry about what they do?

Saad, I have seen so many verses from the Koran that is, frankly, astonishing. I guess that such horrors should be relegated to the 6th century, but sadly they are still believed and taught today, which is what the Palestinian woman told me . This is the sorrow for people everywhere – Muslims for being taught such hate and the rest of mankind, especially Jews, for being the recipients. If you look on the web site for anything to do with hate and the Koran you can read such things. The following are just two examples.

Verse 5:60 even says that Allah transformed Jews of the past into apes and pigs. This is echoed by verses 7:166 and 2:65.

A hadith says that Muhammad believed rats to be “mutated Jews” (Bukhari 54:524, also confirmed by Sahih Muslim 7135 and 7136).

Perhaps you can shed some light on why intelligent people would want to imbue children with such prejudices; does it not occur to them that when children learn to hate they become damaged, aggressive, violent and murderous? Why would anyone want to cultivate the lowest and most negative of the human responses in their own children?

Sylivia, we were not discussing interpretations of various religious texts but rather the recent historical record. I am sure I can find similar interpretation in the Bible and Talmus but I prefer to dwell on people’s action. You stated that you heard some statement from some Palestinian woman claiming atrocious beliefs towards Jews but without attributing a name or context.

I responded with the historical record of how Muslims offered Jews shelter during the crusades and how the Arabs offered a peace deal which was neither accepted nor countered. I believe the historical record speaks more than personal anecdotes but you are free to believe what you will.

The only “Palestinians” are the Jews. Calling Arabs “Palestinians” is the consequence of the propaganda of Gamal Nasser, ruler of Egypt, and the Soviet Union, both haters of Jews, who in Cairo in 1964 invented the “Palestine Liberation Organization” with all the phony history that went with it.
The name “Palestine” was the name the Roman Emperor Hadrian gave to Judea in 135 A.D. when he defeated the last of the Jewish rebellions under Bar Kochba. (He also outlawed Judaism.) Since that time, “Palestine” meant “land of the Jews” or “the Holy Land,” and “Palestinian” meant “Jew.” Great Britain, for example, got the “Palestine Mandate” after World War I to be the “homeland of the Jews.”
The one and only reason the Arabs object to Israel is religious, the Arabs being Mohammedans and the majority of Israelis being Jews. The Arabs called “Palestinian” do not deserve a state, for there are plenty of Arab states around.

Apparently Gandhi felt that the Palestinians were Arab and this in 1938:

Mahatma Gandhi on the “Jews In Palestine”
26-11-1938.

My sympathies are all with the Jews. I have known them intimately in South
Africa. Some of them became lifelong companions. Through these friends I
came to learn much of their age long persecution. They have been the
untouchables of Christianity.
…
But my sympathy does not blind me to the requirements of justice.
…
Palestine belongs to the Arabs in the same sense that England belongs to the English or France to the French. It is wrong and inhuman to impose the Jews on the Arabs. What is going on in Palestine today cannot be justified by any moral code of conduct. The mandates have no sanction but that of the last war. Surely it would be a crime against humanity to reduce the proud Arabs so that Palestine can be restored to the Jews partly or wholly as their national home. The nobler course would be to insist on a just treatment of
the Jews wherever they are born and bred. The Jews born in France are French in precisely the same sense that Christians born in France are French.
…
The Palestine of the Biblical conception is not a
geographical tract. It is in their hearts. But if they must look to the
Palestine of geography as their national home, it is wrong to enter it under
the shadow of the British gun. A religious act cannot be performed with the
aid of the bayonet or the bomb.
…
Let the Jews who claim to be the chosen race prove their title by choosing
the way of non-violence for vindicating their position on earth. Every
country is their home, including Palestine, not by aggression but by loving
service. A Jewish friend has sent me a book called The Jewish Contribution
to Civilization by Cecil Roth…http://www.countercurrents.org/pa-gandhi170903.htm

Well done Sylvia. In hundreds of youtube channels you can see the sickness of Palestinian radicals and their supporters. Here’s just one. Take a look at the icons used by him, his friends and his subscribers:http://www.youtube.com/user/abumiz

I agree with Scott. Each time that the Palestinians have attacked Israel and lost, they have increased their demands. This is not how war is usually played out. When there is a side that is defeated – especially if that side were the aggressors – then they usually accept what is given to them. They do not make demands. Why do the Palestinians do this? And why do they continue to teach their children hatred and murder of all Jews/Israelis? I have taught Palestinian adults on the West Bank and I was told by one of them that she hears this daily repetition of hatred through her open window, because her house is next to a school. Can you not understand why war, violence and hatred continue with such repetitive education? Not only is it the antithises of peace but it warps the minds of young Palestinians. Being taught to hate is known to have damaging consequences for the minds and behaviour of young people. There has been enough research to show this.

If the Palestinians would make peace the two states could be the envy of the world. Imagine, just for a minute, what could happen if Arabs and Jews worked together….

I would also like to ask you why you think that the Palestinians have had their own refugee agency and more money has been spent on them than all the refugees globally? Yet they have nothing to show for it. Other groups become integrated yet the Palestinians have refused to do so. They prefer to stay in their ‘refugee camps’ because they have been told by their leaders that it is only temporary and they will ‘return to their rightful homes’. Most of them do not come from that region and have no ‘rightful home’ there. I have spoken to Palestinians who confirm all of these things. I asked one Palestinian woman why they hate Jews more than they love their own children; her reply was terrible. She said ‘because we must hate and kill Jews. Our Koran tells us to. It is our duty to do so. Not one Jew must remain anywhere’. Does this sound like something we have heard before, to you?

Sylvie, you have on hearsay said that one Palestinian woman said ‘because we must hate and kill Jews. Our Koran tells us to. It is our duty to do so. Not one Jew must remain anywhere’. I am sorry but I have a hard time believing that. Perhaps you might want to give the name of the woman or any other journalist source that can be used to corroborate your story.

Remember that many Jews escaped the Christian Inquisition to live in Muslim lands. One of the Jews most famous theologian, Maimonaides, escaped Spain to live in Egypt which was a Muslim country. The Crusaders imprisoned many Jews and it was Maimonaides along with many other Jews living there that payed the ransom to the Crusaders.

FIRST of all I am not an Israel Firster and second of all I never attacked you. I supported your right to post. Now to your points: Do not expect me or anyone here to take seriously an offer from a murderous thugocracy who is sworn to Israel’s destruction and murders indiscriminately people on both sides. Hamas kills 10 Palis deliberately for every 1 Israel kills accidentally. Israel is not looking for a phony hudna; Israel is seeking a partner with whom to negotiate a just peace.

Maybe it is true that “most Palestinian would accept Israel’s right to exist under 1967 borders.” But in Israel the people decide. In Palestine the rulers decide and the ruled have no say. But there are no ’67 borders. They are armistice lines resulting from Jordan’s failed attack on Israel. Jordan held that land from 1948-1967, not Palestine. And sorry, you don’t get to start successive wars with the intention of anihilation and, “If we win, great, you’re all dead. If we lose we want our land back.” The world doesn’t work like that my friend Saad. Either the victors decide or if they’re kind enough you negotiate. But when you launch a war and lose there’s a price to pay. Now you have to come to the table and stop the rocket fire from Gaza and the end-run around Israel in the UN.
Now about your Saudi suicide pill for Israel, well start here:http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2009/01/24/the-laughable-saudi-peace-plan/

1. I didn’t say you were attacking me but you were giving your subjective opinion of Uri Avnery instead of discussing the issue of whether or not Israel engineered the collapse of the truce in the Gaza Strip in 2008. You simply say the Hamas truce was BS without any reasoning.

2. You say, “most Palestinians do not accept Israel’s right to exist under any borders.” again with out any corroboration. However the facts speak otherwise:

3. You say there are no elections in the Israeli Occupied Territories but then later admit that there was an election in which Hamas was elected. While you may not like the outcome, that does not negate the elections validity.

4. Finally you say that the PM in the WB “supposedly abandoned terror, yet seeks to demonize and deligitimize Israel in the corrupt UN.” Are you equating terror to criticism of Israel? As if many Israel firsters don’t to the same thing to Palestinians!

Scott, this statement is wildly at odds with the truth, but I don’t blame you. Within the Israeli/Zionist context, reading Israeli or most American papers, this is commonly believed. But this only happens because the news is created in a filtered “bubble” by journalists who already have Zionist credentials. This is an excellent article about that. http://www.israeli-occupation.org/2010-11-26/jonathan-cook-publish-it-not/ .

Regarding the future that Israel actually has in store for the state of Palestine, please see this article by Jeff Halper, an anthropologist and former Rabbinic student who works among Palestinians every day: http://www.icahd.org/?page_id=79 . Would you agree to living under a “Matrix of Control” forever into the future?

I don’t think Uri Avnery, a far left-wing fruitcake is a credible source, and Israel has not broken any ceasefires. Hamas’ Hudna ceasefires are BS anyway. The Arab World has been in a perpetual state of war with [the existence of] Israel since Israel declared its Independence.

Saad, I would agree with your statement about both sides needing to desire peace at the same time. However, when the Israeli public gets fed up with the govt’s failure to achieve peace they vote them out. If you poll the Israeli public you will find the majority of Israelis are willing to accept a peaceful Palestinian state alongside them. However most Palestinians do not accept Israel’s right to exist under any borders, as it taught to them from childhood.

While Israel holds elections there are no such rights in the Pal Territories. In Gaza they have elected a terrorist group who seeks a state through mass murder of Israelis. Then in the WB you have a Prime Minister serving his 7th year of a 4 year term who has supposedly abandoned terror, yet seeks to demonize and deligitimize Israel in the corrupt UN.

In the end both Hamas and Fatah will fail. You say Israel should define its borders. I say both sides need to compromise and take steps before the process of final borders are determined. The problem there is only Israel is willing to sit at the table. Peace.

Why is it that Israel firsters always attack the messenger instead of looking at the message? Israel has broken many ceasefires. This is documented in many factual sources. If you think Hamas’s ceasefires are BS, then Israel itself does not acknowledge those cease fires and continues to be in a state of war.

And most Palestinian would accept Israel’s right to exist under 1967 borders. In fact, the Arab peace plan even offered full acknowledgement and trade under those borders. Israel refused the peace treaty and did not offer an alternative of its own!

>>The problem there is only Israel is willing to sit at the table.
Scott, this statement is wildly at odds with the truth, but I don’t blame you. Within the Israeli/Zionist context, reading Israeli or most American papers, this is commonly believed. But this only happens because the news is created in a filtered “bubble” by journalists who already have Zionist credentials. This is an excellent article about that. http://www.israeli-occupation.org/2010-11-26/jonathan-cook-publish-it-not/ .
This is slowly changing because there are independent journalists and bloggers who can bring ground evidence, such as photos and videos. http://www.972mag.com, http://www.mondoweiss.net, lawrenceofcyberia.blogs.com .
Regarding the future that Israel actually has in store for the state of Palestine, please see this article by Jeff Halper, an anthropologist and former Rabbinic student who works among Palestinians every day: http://www.icahd.org/?page_id=79 . Would you agree to living under a “Matrix of Control” forever into the future?

“Amazingly, the committee could not recognize that Israel’s sole intention for going to war in Gaza was to stop Hamas rocket fire targeting Israeli civilians. Had there been no rocket fire, there would have been no war.”

This is flatly untrue. Mr. Margolin may not be aware of this, but self-defense was not the motivation behind Operation Cast Lead, even though one could get that impression from reading some media at the time.

The primary reason for the Gaza invasion was to achieve strategic “deterrence”, whereby great brutality was intentionally inflicted on the Gazan civilian population, as well as Hamas, in order to restore deterrence which was perceived to be lost in the 2006 Second Lebanon War. Deterrence is simply, terror among the populations of Gaza and Lebanon, the fear of Israel, so that there is reluctance to make a rocket attack or infiltration. Given that the Gazans, in particular, have good reason to attack Israel, deterrence doesn’t last for long.

Barak Ravid, “Disinformation, Secrecy, and Lies: How the Gaza offensive came about,” Haaretz (28 December 2008).

The second reason was that Hamas had embarked on a peace offensive before the invasion, trying to seek a “tadiyeh” or “cease-fire” in English.

The facts are that the Gaza invasion was launched after a six month cease-fire was broken by Israel in Nov. 2008. Breaking a cease-fire is not the behavior of a country seeking self-defense. A cease-fire is the best defense there is.

Israel has repeatedly, in the past, attacked its neighbors to obtain a strategic objective, while telling the world that it was acting in self-defense. This undercuts the moral equivalency claim that Mr. Margolin is making.

Very good response. In order to have peace, both sides must want peace at the same time. If there are hawks in Israel which do not want peace and hawks in the Palestinian camps that also do not want peace, there will be no peace. The hawks must be demoted by means of having open communication and open dialog in a civilized way.

Saad I don’t consider al Jazeera as giving Israel a fair shake.
But the reason for my post is again I want to say you should be welcome to state your views in here. That is, as long as you are not just posting links, or posting slogans like, ‘End The Occupation Now’ or something like that. I have no idea what was deleted but I feel as long as you are willing to engage in a discussion you should be allowed to post. Peace!

I asked a simple question as to what where Israel’s borders and it got deleted. I then answered another poster showing how Israel ignored peace offerings and violated cease fires and it also got deleted. All with no reason why.

Please let Saad have his say. If he has an intelligent comment to make it is important to know what it is, regardless of whether it is an opposing view point. Otherwise this will just be a site for a one-sided view point; and HR is not like the BBC, Al Jeezera or any other prejudiced/biased propaganda outlet.

The so-called 1967 “borders” are not borders. This ‘green line’ is actually a cease-fire line. No borders have been negotiated. Which is what the PA wants. A “state” is not entitled to declare “borders” unilaterally. As they attempted to do in 1948. etc. A so-called unilateral declaration of a sovereign PA “state” would probably be used as an excuse for augmented hostile attacks against Israel. As if any such thing were new.

Two important points about the Arabs who are now known as Palestinians. 1. The small number of Arabs living in the region wanted to be attached to Syria; and did not want a state of their own, until relatively recently. I believe it was the British (following WW2) who carved up the area, creating Jordan out of Palestine and cutting off the Arabs from Syria. I can never understand why the Arabs do not demand that most of Jordan is not ‘returned’ to them.

2. The British ‘persuaded’ large numbers of Arabs living around the region to move into Palestine in order that the Jews would not be the majority. So many Palestinian Arabs today cannot claim to have lived in the land for centuries. It seems that the land of Israel became more and more attractive to them because of what the Jews accomplished there.

Have I missed something? Where is the outcry to all the murderous outrages being carried out in Sri Lanka, Libya, Congo – the recent rape of a Canadian woman journalist in Egypt etc., the silence is deafening. Odd that the erruptions only occur when Israel does something. Perhaps this has something to do with the fact that journalists can come and go freely in Israel, but are severely curtailed (or imprisoned) in Islamic countries?

I am the poster ‘discocapper’ at the above site. I am in a thread about Miral with another poster called ‘Thelonius’ who is spouting the typical rhetoric. After his last post I replied twice and both posts [non-inflamatory] were deleted by the so-called ‘moderator.’ My posts were tame compared to the filth they let stand against Israel. I encourage readers here to sign up, respond in that thread, and then go to the Middle East section. There are articles about the conflict, all with sections to comment underneath. Have at ’em!

This is exactly what I have tried to explain on some Finnish forums lately and I have been surprised that Israeli media also speaks about the cycle of violence or revenge and I very much wonder why even IDF:s official blog writes: ” The targeting of the sites was in response to the rocket fire at Ashdod on Friday.” This make you think about revenge rather than stopping the fire!

I totally aggree with HR, but I go further, the Root & Truth of the matter is this. Hamas is a Religious Dictatorship (even Hitler did not fully own that one!) dedicated to the overthrow of the World for Islam, and will NEVER want to make peace with Israel or the EU.UN. or anyone else who does not fit their ideologie. Israel IS a Democracy where Palestinians work, live, & can even vote!
Israel gave the Gaza for peace, the Palestinians under Hamas have not honoured this, and just use it as an indiscriminate fireing of point to maim and kill ANYONE over the border,(on a no holds barred basis). Therefore; DONT try and sell me “a Tit for Tat” scandelous lies, and oh! yes people of Islam, your god, “IS NOT MY GOD”! The True God HE is The God of Love, Mercy, & Truth is long suffering not wanting any to perish! – I dont need to come kill you because You Kill Christians & burn Bibles ( as the Son of Hamas has said “there is something worse than death”). I do support Israel in her right to exist! Lastly to ALL, we will All someday stand before The God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob.
Tom for Israel.

Because our neighbors will NEVER let us live here in peace, it doesn’t matter what our borders are! have you ever noticed their map of the State of Palestine? It is the WHOLE State of Israel. So WHERE will we, the Israelis live?
Have you ever seen Palestinian school books? Children’s TV programs? It is all full of hatred towards Israel! So, HOW can we live in peace if they hate us more than they love their children?

A international Jewish/Israeli 24hr news program! We already have some of the best reporters and writers. A channel that doesn’t allow moral equivalence would be a welcome relief and might do well financially.

There is a group of American Jewish business men who are about to set up a T.V. programme to challenge Al Jezeera, and all the distortions, lies and bias in the media. It is not too soon for this to happen.

The raw truth is that Arabs do not want ‘infidels’ on their land. They will do anything and everything to destroy anyone who lives on Islamic soil. They are still revenging themselves for the Crusades. Whilst our frustration drives us to want to kill the enemy rather than make peace, this will only provide more enemies from Israel’s borders. Israel fought and won numerous battles against Arabs, but instead of being the ‘vanquished’ the defeated Arabs have demanded equal rights and more – ‘give us ALL the land’. Whenever Israel has offered land for peace she is rewarded by attacks on her innocent civilians. And the UN? And the world? Say nothing of course. This is why I am asking fellow pro-Israel supporters to organise something to counterattack all the vilification of Israel in the media/churches/governments etc.

I do get the point that Loren was making, using the metaphor of the lion, however, a lion would be doing something instinctive, the Arabs are following their religious creed in the Koran to kill every Jew. It is a 6th century religion that has not evolved to reflect the humane concepts of the 21st century.

So the last question is, why doesn’t the govt of Israel get this? Why do they continue along this path of impossible peace? If a lion was after you its dinner, would you try to negotiate with it? No, you’d shoot it so it stops chasing you. I am sick of Israel’s refusal to defend itself as it should,

It is biased reporting that`s contributing to antisemitism!
People do not bother to investigate the real truth of the terrible attacks by Hamas or other Gazans against the jews!
When the IDF try to take out the terrorist operatives of these rockets the news calls it tit for tat violence which is not correct!
Israel tries to defend itself following the attacks from Gaza!

It is terrible that the world is unwilling to realize that it made a mistake in condemning Israel as Judge Goldstone has done in retracking his previous report. The media and the public must become aware of their biases and seek to correct them.

Israel needs her own news outlet- In the same way that that Iran has Press TV and of course there is al-Jezeera-
It needs to shout to the world of the half truths of the BBC, CNN and SKY.
It needs to shout to the world why it has to defend itself so vigorously.

With its expertise in the field of electronics and IT setting up such a station surely is not impossible. And with good journalists such as the “boys” in HR and I am sure there are personalities such as Jacky Mason and many others who have already nailed their flag to the mask who would give their time. The whole truth woyuld be told.

Steve.- you’re quite right – & it may be happening.
I read somewhere that a Jewish billionaire from Khagistan or somewhere in eastern Europe is making moves to start up a media channel to oppose al jazera.
Watch this spot …

So much of the above comments are spot on. But where does this get Israel? Precisely nowhwere. Israel continues to be vilified and demonised. What is needed is an organised group of people who will be able to speak out in the media everytime there is a mention of Israel – which is frequent. We need to organise ourselves instead of complaining between ourselves, surely!

My angst against this thinly veiled antisemitisim is: where are the protestors against Mugabe, China, The Congo, the Arab states murdering and torturing their own people, South American countries that do the same, and whole swathes of humanity that perpetuates inhumanity. Why does the world continue to use Israel/Jews as the eternal scapegoat? It is time that we spoke out against this obvious abuse. The Arabs have managed to convince the world that they are the ‘abused victims’. We do not want to attribute that title to ourselves, but we have to show the world that we will no longer tolerate this outrageous hypocrisy.

Actually, World War II (or any war, for that matter) can be viewed as a tit-for-tat exercise. You bombed Pearl Harbor, we bomb Tokyo. You bombed London, we bomb Berlin. Complete moral equivalency. No need to look for right or wrong. In fact, during the closing months of the war, Germany and Japan were being bombed mercilessly by the Allies, their armies were in full retreat, and they had practically no means to fight back. If I were a “fair” man, or an AP or Time reporter, I would have called for an immediate cease-fire to stop the horrible killing of innocent civilians.

It was not tit for tat in world war II.
Hitler was a madman who marched into countries to capture them and murder jews, the disabled,gypsies, all those who were flawed human beings in his eyes!
He wanted to create a pure Arian race, as he called it!
England and later America had no choice but to defend and liberate the people as this evil had to be defeated!
Can you imagine what it would have been like if Hitler had got his way! Hell on earth!
It could happen again if you listen to Ahmedinejad and ignore his threats of a worldwide Islamic caliphate!

The action to deligitimate Israel is continuing ,organised by AP autorities with the help the medias (news paper,movies ,boycott actions )of the so-called Israel Friends countries …..

The maximum will be reached in september with the Durban reunion in New York ,the action by United Organisation to recognize the Palestine as an independant state and the action of Hamas by firing hundred of missiles ….

I said it before and I’ll say it again, and I’m sorry to have to say it. In a war one side must win and the other must lose before peace can be negotiated.

I’ve been on forums all over the net for 10+ years. It doesn’t matter what Israel does as She is hated regardless. All I read regarding Israel is “Occupation,” “Stolen Land,” Apartheid,” “Israel kills 9 Palestinians for every Israeli,” etc. Everywhere you go on the WWW it’s the same canned rhetoric and it’s like trying to explain Israel’s position to infants.

And as far as the press is concerned moral equivalence is ingrained to the same degree that hatred is taught to Palestinian kindergartners.

It is time once and for all to win this war. Infact it’s past time. Watching that video the only thought I had — “Is there any other country in the world with superior military might that would allow this indiscriminate rocket fire to occur without obliterating everything within 5 miles of it?”

No Arabs should be called “Palestinian.” Doing so is continuing the Arab propaganda against Israel, which is base solely on religion. The name “Palestine” was given to Judea in 135 A.D. after the Roman Emperor Hadrian defeated the last Jewish rebellion under Bar Kochba. He renamed “Judea” “Palestina” in order to eradicate any memory of Judea, and he outlawed Judaism. “Palestine” then became synonymous with “land of the Jews” or “the Holy Land” (since Jesus was a Jew), and “Palestinian” became synonymous with “Jew.” Thus, after World War I, Great Britain was given the “Palestine Mandate” to be the “homeland of the Jews.”
Calling non-Jews “Palestinian” came from the decision to invent the “Palestine Liberation Organization,” in Cairo in 1964, by the haters of Jews Gamal Nasser, ruler of Egypt, and the Soviet Union. The 1972 massacre of the Israeli athletes at the Olympic Games in 1972 by the “P.L.O.” popularized the use of the term “Palestinian” for Arabs. Of course, these miscalled “Palestinians” are Arabs who want to destroy Israel and the Jews.

Correct! No Arab regarded himself “Palestinian” till the 1960ies. Till then only Jews were or wanted to be Palestinians. Thus the Palestine Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1936 in Tel Aviv by Bronislaw Huberman, a famous Jewish viololnist of Polish origin. This Palestine Symphony Orchestra was renamed after 1948 The Israel Symphony Orchestra.

All this recent “Palestine” story is huge humbug, a propaganda stunt invented by the Arabs to give the world coalition of antisemites a new excuse to delegitimize Israel and Jewish existence.
There was never a need, or a genuine Arab desire for another Arab state in Palestine. In 1947 with UN partition resolution #181 the Arabs were offered a state on a much larger area than the prospected Jewish state. The Jews accepted this resolution joyously and thankfully, while the Arabs rejected it with contempt. Their true concern was obviating the establishment of the Jewish state rather than having another Arab state. Till 1967 there were no “occupied territories” and the Arabs openly admitted that their goal is the annihilation of the Jewish state. Eventually they realized that that were not able to defeat Israel on the battlefield, and that their declared dream to destroy Israel doesn’t sell well.
At this point Arafat and his gang conceived their Palestinian saga.

The lesson tlo be drawn from all this is that he who is made out of sugar, ends up
eaten by the ants, which is precisely the case with Israel.

I’m expecting the rotten UN and EU to come up with the condemnation of Israel for
‘DISPROPORTIONATE REACTION”, that is giving carte blanche to HAMASa to
bomb Israel but Israel’s pinpoint terrorist assassinations, often an route to fire
rockets and mkortars on Israel rockets was fore these Judeophobes,
“Disproportionate Reaction” ….

TIME would have been entitled to call it a “TIT FOR TAT” if Israel, rightfully so ,
would have subjected GAZA to the same bombardment its HAMAS subjected
Israel for 8 long years before the Cast Lead operation, continued sporadically
even after the armistice signed to stop it but then again, the only reason for
abstining from repaying in kind, must be the tremendous population density
of GAZA…

Therefore, once again, he who is made out of sugar, ends up eaten by the ants
of GAZA

As someone who has worked for a newspaper, I have to say this article makes clear the problem of ignoring the intention of the action when reporting an incident. If a policeman is called to a domestic dispute where the husband is beating up the wife and has to use force to restrain him. Everyone is clear about the foolishness of saying the damage caused by the husband to his wife is equivalent to the damage inadvertently caused by the policeman to the husband.

Israel has defined her borders and has tried to live within them. Were Hamas and the others who are attacking civilians in an attempt to terrorize them into leaving to cease their efforts and leave them in peace the situation would be very different. I believe Israel has made it clear from the beginning that they will not discriminate against strangers living in their midst no matter their background as long as they respect Israel’s laws and respect her rights to defend her citizens.

If the magazines want to show real moral equivalency, they have to look at why there were still so many refugees in the newly acquired territories in 1967. There were 2 sets of refugees from the 1948 war, with just as many Jewish refugees running into Israel as there were Arab refugees running into the Arab countries. The question they should be asking is: Why were so many Arab refugees still living in refugee camps under Arab control close to 20 years after the war of 1948?

Karl Vick of Time Magazine has it out for Israel. This was illustrated in Time’s infamous cover last year “Does Israel Want Peace”. Israel will not have fair reporting until Mr Vick is expelled from Israel, and goes back to his previous assignment in Turkey, where he can party with Turkish Islamists like IHH

By definition Hamas intentionally targets children and civilians. It is a terror organization, so
officially declared by the US and European Union. But, as you point out the media ignore
this and write about two adversaries. They do not lable Hamas as terrorist. Under the cover of their election victory they are now seen as a de facto government and no longer
what they are -a terrorist group dedicated to the elimination of Israel. In short, moral equivalence.

One can stretch the imagination to how the media would write when there is a sovereign Palestinian state united with Hamas and including Gaza. Given their goal of eliminating
the other state -Israel (not likely to be suspended with a peace agreement which is acknowledged as being only a pause on the final road to destruction), violence against
Israel is not likely to be a thing of the past. Now, the media will write about conflict
between two sovereigh states…like the Times of today “tit for tat”, just a childish
misbehavior on both sides of the border. I hope that my stretch of the imagination
does not come to pass…and that there will be no conflict to write about when there are
two states

I agree with Jimmy and have to add that Israel has not taken the stand of pushing the Palestinians into the sea or of pushing them back into a corner. If anybody with reason would look at the map they should be able to see who is in the corner and up against the sea. Israel has no alternative but to retaliate to the aggression of those who lie about the aggression perpetrated and then fire indiscriminatly on innocent people who have nowhere else to go except forward. I say the 6 day war has been forgotten but there is one who does not forget and those who do forget the past will surly be doomed to repeat it. Israel should never forget what has happened in the past and it should never forget its heritage. Palestinians could choose to live in peace and thus have peace but because of long time hatred they continue to use terror and lies as their mode of operandi.